Organisation
A Centre Agreement governs the roles and responsibilities of the NEXT Competence Centre's partners, various fora and officials.
The NEXT Competence Centre's first Annual General Meeting was held on 11 April 2024.
This AGM elected the Steering Group.
The Steering Group
The Steering Group determines the research project portfolio, actively follows up on its progress, and supports the Director in making the NEXT Centre a success. The elected members of the NEXT Steering Group are:
- Henrik Runnemalm, Vice President Global Technology Centre, GKN Aerospace (Chair)
- Annika Borgenstam, Vice President for Research, KTH Royal Institute of Technology
- Patrik Ölund, Head of Group R&D, Ovako
- Ingegerd Annergren, Manager of Materials Engineering, Scania
- Pernilla Walkenström, Senior Vice-President Materials and Production, RISE
- Ulric Ljungblad, CIO, Freemelt
- Mattias Calmunger, Head of Division Engineering Materials, Linköping University
- Mikaela Gustafsson, R&D Manager Materials Characterization, Sandvik Coromant*
The elected as suppliants are:
- Maria Abrahamsson, Director for the Area of Advance Materials Science, Chalmers University of Technology
- Hans Magnusson, Research leader, Swerim
- Susanne Norgren, Group Expert, Sandvik
- Malin Svedberg, Analysis Laboratory Manager, Seco Tools
Director and Management Team
The Director has overall responsibility for the NEXT Competence Centre's operations. The Director is supported by a Management Team who lead operational activities and work packages.
The Director and Vice-Directors are:
- Professor Peter Hedström, KTH Royal Institute of Technology
- Professor Ru Peng, Linköping University
- Assoc Professor Magnus Colliander, Chalmers University of Technology
The additional members of the Management Team are:
- Dr Denise McCluskey, KTH Royal Institute of Technology
- Dr Konstantin Simonov, Swerim
- Dr Torsten Sjögren, RISE
Research themes and work packages
The operational activities are organised within research themes, which we call Archetypal Characterisation Challenges (ACCs), and Work Packages. Several Work Packages address common themes across the ACCs and Centre.
The Work Packages are:
- Management of the Centre, including Communications
- Education and Training of Centre Partners
- Sample environments and other hardware at LSIs
- Innovation eco-system
The ACCs are:
- Stress, Strain, Damage and Failure
- Environmental effects on surfaces
- Manufacturing processes
- High through-put
Project Managers
Within each of the ACC's, a portfolio of research projects are planned. Research projects are run by Project Managers. Project Managers are:
- Assoc Professor Magnus Colliander, Chalmers University of Technology
- Dr Mohammad Hoseini Athar, KTH Royal Institute of Technology
- Assoc Professor Greta Lindwall, KTH Royal Institute of Technology
- Professor Peter Hedström, KTH Royal Institute of Technology
- Dr Tao Zhou, KTH Royal Institute of Technology
- Professsor Johan Moverare, Linköping University
- Professor Ru Peng, Linköping University
- Assoc Professor Lina Rogström, Linköping University
- Dr Yvonne Aitomaki, RISE
- Dr Erik Claesson, Swerim
- Dr Niklas Hollander-Pettersson, Swerim
- Dr Konstantin Simonov, Swerim
Each project typically involves 5-6 partners.
NEXT PhD Students
Many projects involve a PhD student, who are currently under recruitment.